Three Months
by KoryStar1891
Summary: Mirajane and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild have decided it's time for Natsu and Lucy to get together. Unfortunately all their attempts don't seem to affect the two dense mages. But are Natsu and Lucy really that dense or are they just enjoying messing with their guild mates. NaLu. Hints of GaLe, ElfEver, Gruvia, and some RoWen.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my first Fairy Tail fanfiction so I tried to keep all the characters in character.**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.**

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Chapter One

"Alright everyone, gather around!" Mira called from behind the bar. "We need to discuss today's plans to get Natsu and Lucy together before they arrive today."

At Mira's call everyone in the guild began to gather around close to the bar. After countless attempts at getting the two teammates to realize their feelings and get together Mira had recently decided to enlist the help of the entire guild. So far they had had no luck.

"Alright, we've got to give it our best shot today to get Lucy and Natsu together. I expect everyone to have a plan." Mira announced.

"I am in agreement with Mira." Erza said. "Those two need our help or they might never get together. They even went on a mission with just the two of them last week and didn't realize their feelings."

"Flame Brain is so dense that I don't know if he even knows what love is." Gray said, as he unconsciously stripped his shirt off. "We might be able to get it through to Lucy though."

"So everyone has an idea right?" Mira asked the gathered guild members. A chorus of agreement rose up from the guild members.

"Juvia will try her best so that Lucy will no longer be a love rival for Gray-sama!" the determined water mage exclaimed.

"I'll give Lucy a fake card reading to indicate that Natsu likes her." Cana said, taking another swig of her beer.

"And I'll talk to Lu-chan about Natsu liking her." Levy added from her seat.

"I guess I can try talking to the Fire Idiot as well, I guess, though I don't know if it will help." Gray said.

"I'll help you." Gajeel added, from the back of the crowd. "That idiot's so dense that it will take more than one person to get it through his thick skull that he likes Bunny Girl."

"Helping your friends in love is Man!" Elfman exclaimed.

Evergreen smacked Elfman on the back of his head. "Will you stop saying that everything is 'man'." She told him.

"Oh, Ever and Elfman are having a lover's quarrel." Bixlow teased from next to them.

"We are not!" they both denied.

Mira smiled upon seeing this adding them to her list of couples to fix together.

"So does everyone understand what to do?" Erza asked in a stern voice, glaring at all the guild members.

"Of course, Erza!" everyone hastily agreed.

"I feel kind of bad doing this." Wendy admitted to Carla quietly. "Shouldn't we let Lucy-san and Natsu-san confess in their own time?"

"Those two are too dense." Carla replied. "If we waited for them to confess on their own it would never happen."

"Everyone, Nastu-nii and Lucy-nee are headed this way! They are almost here!" Romeo exclaimed as he rushed into the guild.

"Okay everyone act normal." Mira said as the guild members dispersed and went about their normal activities.

"I don't get why you're so upset, Luce." Natsu was saying as he walked into the guild with Lucy beside him.

Natsu, that food was supposed to last all week and you ate it all in less than a day!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Well you need to buy more next time." Natsu replied.

Lucy sighed. "I don't think I have enough storage for all the food you would eat in a week, Natsu."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" Natsu exclaimed.

"It means you're a pig, Flame Head!" Gray yelled out.

"You looking for a fight, Ice Pick!" Natsu yelled back.

"Bring it, Fire Breath!"

"You're on, Stripper!"

And with that the usual fight between Nastu and Gray was on.

"Hello Lu-chan!" Levy called as Lucy approached the bar.

"Levy-chan, hi!" Lucy replied. "Oh, I finished the latest chapter of my novel for you." Lucy pulled a sheaf of paper out and held it out to Levy.

Levy squealed with delight as she took the papers from Lucy. "I've been wondering what was going to happen next, Lu-chan!"

"Well now you don't have to wait any longer, Levy-chan." Lucy said as Levy began to read the chapter.

"Hey Lucy, how about I give you a card reading?" Cana asked as she sat down on the other side of her.

"Sure, why not?" Lucy replied with a smile.

Cana pulled her cards out and began her reading as she drew several cards out. "Hhmmm." Cana mumbled, pretending to be deep in thought.

"What do they say, Cana?" Lucy asked eagerly.

"The cards are predicting that your true love is closer than you think." Cana replied. "He's probably in the guild right now."

"Really, I wonder who it could be." Cana's face paled at how dense Lucy was.

"I think I know who it is, Lu-chan." Levy said helpfully.

"Who, Levy-chan?"

"Natsu." Levy replied simply.

"Levy might be on to something here, Lucy." Mira said, joining their conversation. "After all you and Nastu are really close."

"Don't be silly," Lucy replied. "What makes you think Natsu is my love, Levy-chan?"

Well I recently came across this book that lists signs that a guy likes you." Levy explained. "One sign is that he'll find ways to touch you. Natsu is always grabbing your hand or putting his arm around your shoulders. It also says a guy will tease you if he likes you. Natsu calls you 'weirdo', Lu-chan. Another sign is they always want to be around you." Levy concluded.

"That's right! Natsu's always going on missions with you, Lucy." Mira said.

"You know, Levy-chan," Lucy started with a sly look at her friend. "That sounds a lot like you and Gajeel."

"W-what?" Levy stuttered. "It's not at all the same!"

"Oh, yes it is, Levy-chan. Gajeel is always calling you 'shrimp' and I heard he's been going on missions with team Shadow Gear lately."

_-Nice avoidance tactic, Lucy.-_ Mira thought. –_Turn the situation back on Levy. -_ Mira made a mental note to make Levy and Gajeel her next couple project. It was definitely time for them to get together.

"I wouldn't disregard what Levy and Mira-nee said, Lucy." Lisanna said from behind Lucy. "I've known Natsu for a long time and there's definitely something there."

"I agree kina." Kinana said as she walked behind the bar to fetch an order for one of the guild members.

"You guys are just imaging things." Lucy said. "Natsu and I are just friends."

The girl's sighed as their hints were completely ignored by the blonde celestial mage.

"Lucy," Erza said as she came up to the group of girls after breaking up Natsu and Gray's fight. "If you need to go on a job today you'll have to go with just Natsu. Both myself and Gray are unable to go."

"Actually, Erza, I don't need to go on a job right now. Amazingly on our last job together Natsu didn't destroy anything so I got enough of the reward money to cover two months of rent." Lucy said, happily.

Erza sighed as she sat down on a bar stool. –_Of all the time for Natsu to not destroy anything. -_ She thought. "Mira, can I get a piece of strawberry cake?"

"Of course, Erza." Mira replied, as she turned around to get the cake. "None of our hints have been working." Mira whispered to Erza as she handed her the cake. "That's hope the guys are having better luck with Natsu."

They both took a quick glance at the boys sitting at a table a little ways away.

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**So that's the first chapter of the story. Next chapter will be Natsu and the guys talking. I have half of it written already so I will try my best to update it this week.**

Also I can't remember all the names Natsu and Gray call each other when they fight so if any of you do it would be helpful if you could tell me in a review so I can use them in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!  



	2. Chapter 2

**First of all sorry that this update took so long to get it. Finishing this chapter took longer than I thought it would. **

**I'd like to thank LilTimy, Hime Otaku, and Guest for giving me names that natsu and gray call each other which I used for this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns all Fairy Tail characters. **

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**Chapter 2**

Natsu and Gray sat at a table together, both nursing a huge bump on their heads they had received from Erza after she had decided it was time to break up their fight.

"Owww." Natsu complained. "Did Erza really have to hit us that suddenly? I mean we didn't even get a warning."

"Geh. You two brought it down on yourselves." Gajeel said sliding into the bench across from them.

"Hey, Flame Brain." Gray took his hand away from the bump on his head where he had been using his ice magic to cool it. "Do you like Lucy?" he asked bluntly.

Natsu turned his head to stare at Gray. "I'll think about answering you after you put some clothes on, Pervert."

"What the-" Gray looked down to see he was now only dressed in his boxers. "When did that happen?" Gray said as he searched the guild for his clothes.

"Really, Salamander, do you like Bunny Girl?" Gajeel asked again once Gray had managed to find his clothes again.

Natsu looked at Gajeel like he was crazy. "Of course I like Lucy." Natsu replied

Gray and Gajeel perked up at the possibility that the dense Fire Dragon Slayer had finally realized his feelings for his blonde partner.

"Lucy's my nakama after all." Natsu finished with a big grin. Both Gray and Gajeel banged their heads down on the table at the dense boy's words.

Gajeel was the first to lift his head up from the table. "That's not the way we meant 'like', Dragneel."

Huh, it's not? Then what do you mean?" Natsu asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Forget it, Gajeel." Gray said also lifting his head. "The Walking Flamethrower is too dense to understand this concept.

"What'd you say, Popsicle!" Natsu yelled, standing up in his seat, fists flaming.

"You heard me, Fire Breath!" Gray yelled back, also standing up as well his Ice Make magic surrounding his fists.

"Natsu!" "Gray!" Erza's stern voice called out from the bar, causing the two boys to immediately freeze. "Are you two fighting again?"

"No. Not at all, Erza." Both boys responded.

"We're just having a friendly chat. Right, Natsu?" Gray said hoping to avoid Erza's wrath.

"Aye sir!" Natsu quickly responded.

Erza nodded and turned her attention back to her strawberry cake and both boys sat back down in their seats.

"Really, you would think you two idiots would learn not to fight when Erza's around."

Natsu and Gray turned to see who had spoken and saw that it was Carla, who had flown over to their table with Happy and Pantherlily.

Natsu, I had a vision of you and Lucy." Carla said.

"What? Lucy! Was she in trouble?" Natsu asked, starting to panic slightly.

"No. It was nothing like that. It was just you and Lucy in her apartment. Alone." Carla said trying to get her point across.

"I wonder what that means." Natsu said. "Well let me know if anything else shows up, Carla."

Carla could feel a headache approaching from dealing with the dense Dragon Slayer. "Idiot." She muttered under her breath. "Well I'm going to go talk to the girls now before you boys start rubbing off on me." Carla said as she flew off towards the bar. Maybe she would have better luck telling Lucy the vision.

"Carla, wait for me!" Happy called as he flew off after the white Exceed.

"So what are we talking about?" Lily asked as he sat down by Gajeel.

"We were talking about Dragneel and Bunny Girl." Gajeel answered.

"Confessing your feelings is Man!" Elfman exclaimed suddenly joining their conversation.

"Oh, does that mean you're gonna confess to Evergreen, Elfman?" Natsu asked.

"W-what?" Elfman exclaimed, his face turning slightly red. "Asking that question is not Manly!"

"Oh well I just overheard Bixlow and Fried say something about that yesterday so I thought that's what you were talking about."

"They did?" Elfman suddenly turned around and stalked up to where the two male members of the Raijinshu sat with Laxus and Evergreen.

"Fried!" "Bixlow!" He yelled. "Come and fight me like a Man!"

"Elfman! What are you talking about?" Evergreen exclaimed. "Stop this nonsense!"

"Geez, the Flaming Idiot can see that relationship, but he can't see the one right in front of him." Gray muttered.

"What'd you call me, Ice Princess?" Natsu exclaimed.

"I called you an idiot, Flame Breath!" Gray retorted. Natsu and Gray butted heads together as they argued.

"You do remember that Erza is sitting not ten feet away from here, right?" Lily interjected.

Both boys shivered at the mention of Erza and immediately calmed down before she noticed them fighting again.

"Well, I've gotta get going." Gajeel said standing up. "I've got a mission to do with the shrimp and her two dogs. Let's go Lily."

Lily flew after Gajeel as he approached the bar and spoke to Levy. Levy nodded at what Gajeel said, blushing slightly as the other girls laughed quietly. Gajeel and Levy with Lily behind then walked over to the request board where Jet and Droy were. They started protesting when they saw Gajeel with Levy but were instantly silenced by a glare from the Iron Dragon Slayer. Levy quickly picked a request from the board and showed it to Mira before she left the guild with Gajeel. Jet and Droy followed behind depressed that Gajeel was coming with them.

"Natsu! Gray!" Asuka yelled, running into the guild. She ran up to their table and hugged first Natsu then Gray.

"Hey there, Asuka." Natsu replied as he patted the young girl's head.

"Asuka, don't rush ahead like that!" Alzack said as he entered the guild and came up behind his daughter.

"Sorry, Daddy." Asuka replied. "I just wanted to see everybody."

"It's okay. Just try not to do that again." Alzack said. He sat down at the table across from Natsu and Gray and Asuka jumped up to sit beside her father. "You know, Natsu," Alzack said in a more serious tone. "It took Tenrou Island disappearing along with everyone on it for me and Bisca to realize that the time you have with your loved ones is short and you shouldn't waste that time. That's when we got together. You shouldn't wait to reveal your feelings for someone because they could be gone before you know it." Alzack finished with a meaningful glace toward the bar where Lucy sat with the other girls.

Alzack then left, following after Asuka as she rushed off to another part of the guild to meet someone else. Unknowingly to him the words he had said to Natsu had had an impact on Gray.

"You know, Flame Brain, I think Alzack has a point." Gray said as he got up from the table and walked over to the bar where Juvia was sitting next to Erza.

"Hey Juvia," Gray said. "I was thinking about going out to get something to eat. You wanna come with me?"

Juvia felt her face heat up and knew her face was probably completely red as she answered Gray. "J-Juvia would love to, Gray-sama!" She replied somehow managing to not faint.

"Good." Gray said with a small smile. "Then that's go." He grabbed Juvia's wrist and pulled her out the guild's doors with him.

The entire guild stared at the doors they had left through in silence, shocked by the scene they had just witnessed. Mira felt like squealing in joy as one of her couple pairings finally hooked up. It looks like she could cross Gray and Juvia off her list.

"Good for him." Erza said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

After that the guild returned to its usual lively behavior, with some discussion about the new romance between the Ice mage and the Water mage.

"About time, Popsicle." Natsu muttered to himself.

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**Well there's the completed second chapter. I am working on a third chapter and I will post it as soon as I complete it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay first of all, sorry that this update took so long. It was harder to write then I thought it would be. It didn't help that my computer decided to erase half of it before it was saved forcing me to rewrite it. But anyway I've finally got it up. **

"Hey there, Natsu." Macao greeted. He walked up to Natsu's table with Wakaba.

"Yo, Macao, Wakaba!" Natsu replied, as the two men sat down at the table with him.

"So, Natsu," Macao started. "How's your relationship with Lucy?"

"Huh, what do you mean? Our friendship is great!" Natsu replied.

Both Macao and Wakaba nearly fell out of their seats at Natsu's dense statement.

"No, no. Not like that Natsu." Wakaba explained. "We were talking about relationship in the romantic way."

"Huh? I don't get it." Natsu said his face full of confusion as he scratched the top of his head.

"Natsu, surely you must have noticed that Lucy is a very attractive girl." Macao stated.

"Well, yeah, of course." Natsu stated bluntly. "Lucy's cute and all."

"Plus she's got one great rack!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"What'd you say?!" Natsu exclaimed in anger. He stood up fast slamming his hands down on the table in the process. Natsu was on the verge of attacking Wakaba when a stern voice interrupted.

"Wakaba!" Mirajane exclaimed, her face a mask of anger that hadn't been seen since her Satan Soul days. "That's not something you should say about a guild member!"

"S-sorry, Mira-san." Wakaba stuttered.

"Come on." Mira said, grabbing Wakaba's shirt collar and pulling him away. "You're going to clean the kitchen."

"But Mira-san," Wakaba protested.

"No 'buts'." Mira interrupted. "It's your punishment."

"Hahaha!" Macao laughed. "I always knew he'd get caught by Mira on of these days."

Natsu sat back down trying to calm himself after Wakaba's statement.

"But you know, Natsu, you wouldn't have got that upset if you didn't feel something more than friendship towards Lucy." Macao said. "I'll leave you to think about that." Macao finished, correctly interpreting the glare Natsu sent him.

Meanwhile at the bar Lucy was getting some unwanted attention.

"Yo, Cosplay Queen!" Bixlow called to Lucy as he approached the bar with Fried and Evergreen.

"Bixlow! How many times have I told you not to call me that? I don't do cosplay!" Lucy said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"That's not what we came to discuss." Fried explained.

"We wanted to talk to you about Natsu." Evergreen stated bluntly.

"Oh, what about Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"He liiiiiiiiiiiikes you!" Bixlow said rolling his tongue like Happy.

"Don't imitate Happy!" Lucy exclaimed.

Evergreen elbowed Bixlow in the side. "We're trying to get her and Natsu together, Bixlow." She whispered. "Don't tease her so much."

"Alright, I get it." Bixlow replied.

"All three of us think Natsu likes you, Lucy." Fried spoke for them.

"And you two would make a cute couple." Bixlow added.

"Yeah! Cute couple! Cute couple!" Bixlow's spirit dolls agreed.

"I think you guys are wrong about that." Lucy replied. "Natsu is too dense for that."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Lucy." Fried said.

"Even though you say Natsu's dense, Lucy," Evergreen commented, sitting down on an empty seat by Lucy. "You like him don't you?"

"I-uh- that is to say…" Lucy stumbled over her words. She snuck a quick glance at Natsu, who was still sulking alone at his table. "We are nakama." She finished.

Evergreen shook her head. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Lucy, and that's not it. I guess you're still in denial." She sighed.

"I'm not in denial!" Lucy immediately argued.

"I am I agreement with Evergreen." Fried spoke up. "I also believe Natsu shares your feelings Lucy. Even though he seems dense I can tell that there's something there. You should think about that, Lucy. We'd better leave now, I'm sure Ever wants to spend some time with Elfman." Fried teased his fellow team member.

"Yeah I- what!" Evergreen exclaimed finally realizing what Fried had said. "Fried!"

"Good one, Fried!" Bixlow said, laughing.

"Hey! You two get back here!" Evergreen yelled as she ran the two retreating males.

Lucy laughed at the antics of her guild members. Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and turned around to see Natsu standing beside her.

"Lllllluuuuucccccyyyy." He whined. "I'm bored."

"I guess without Gray here to fight with you would get bored." Lucy said.

"Do something with me." Natsu said, trying to pull Lucy out of her chair.

"I can't, Natsu," Lucy said. "I promised Erza I'd help her organize the library today."

"Natsu, if you're bored you can help Lucy and I organize the library." Erza said from behind them.

Natsu jumped and turned around to face Erza. "That's okay, Erza," Natsu slowly stared backing away from Erza. "I can find something to do."

"No. You're helping." Erza commanded as she grabbed Natsu's scarf and dragged him towards the library.

"Nnnnnnnoooooooooo!" Natsu yelled as he was dragged away. "I don't wanna!"

Lucy sweat dropped as she watched Erza disappear into the library with Natsu.

"Hurry up, Lucy!" Erza called from the doorway.

"Coming!" Lucy replied as she got up from her seat and walked towards the library doors.

"Why do I have to do this?" Natsu asked Erza as Lucy entered the room.

"Because I said so." Erza replied and hit Natsu on the head.

"Ow." Natsu complained from the floor where Erza had left him.

"You'd better not argue with Erza, Natsu." Lucy said as she helped him up. "Come help move these books over to those shelves over there." Lucy said indicating a huge stack of books in the corner.

"Okay, Lucy." Natsu replied. "Let's hurry and get this done." He picked up the whole pile and began to move them.

"Natsu! Don't try to move them all at once!" Lucy exclaimed. "You'll trip!"

"It's okay Luce! I'll be- gah!" Just as Natsu said that he tripped and fell flat on his face, books crashing to the ground.

"Natsu! Are you okay?" Lucy asked as Natsu popped up from the middle of the pile of books.

"I'm fine, Luce!" he exclaimed.

"This time move them in smaller piles, Natsu." Lucy said as she picked several books up and walked over to the shelves.

"But that's boring." Natsu complained even as he obeyed.

It took them the rest of the afternoon to finish cleaning up so it was early evening before they were finished.

"I'm beat." Lucy sighed as she sat down at the bar.

"Here you go, Lucy." Mira said as she sat a shake down in front of Lucy. "This will help."

"Thank you, Mira!" Lucy exclaimed as she began to drink the shake.

"Natsu-nii!" Romeo exclaimed as he ran in through the guild doors.

"Yo, Romeo!" Natsu replied. "What's up?"

"I found something really cool in the park!" he exclaimed. "I wanna show it to you! Come on!"

"Okay, Romeo. Happy are you coming?" Natsu asked the blue exceed who was sitting at the bar with Carla.

"No. I want to stay and talk to Carla a little longer." Happy replied. "I'll catch up later."

"Alright then. Let's go, Romeo."

Romeo nodded as he fell into step beside Natsu as they headed for the doors. Just before Romeo left through the doors he looked back over his shoulder at a certain blue-haired dragon slayer and gave her a thumb's up. Wendy smiled and nodded to show she understood. That was her signal to get Lucy. Wendy got up from her seat and approached Lucy.

"Hello, Lucy-san." Wendy greeted.

"Hello Wendy." Lucy replied cheerfully.

"I was wondering if you would like to go on a walk with me." Wendy asked.

"I'd love to Wendy." Lucy replied. "It would be nice to get some fresh air right now."

Wendy smiled brightly. "Carla, I'll be back in a little bit!" she called to the white exceed.

"Okay, Wendy. Be careful!" Carla replied.

"I will!" Wendy replied as she waved to her.

"Ahhh. It feels nice out here." Lucy exclaimed as she and Wendy walked down the street. "So Wendy, I heard you went on a mission with Romeo."

Wendy's face immediately flushed red at Lucy's statement. "I-uh-It is true that I went on a mission with Romeo-kun…"

"Oh so it's Romeo-kun, is it?" Lucy remarked with a sly look on her face.

Wendy's face deepened to a deeper shade of red and she hurried to change the subject. "Ah, Lucy-san, let's head to the park. It's really pretty there at this time of the day."

"You're right, Wendy, it is." Lucy replied. "Good idea."

Wendy quickly turned down the path that led to the park with Lucy beside her. They had only been in the park for a few moments before Wendy cried out an exclamation.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Wendy?" Lucy asked concerned for the girl. She stopped walking under a large tree and turned back to look at the young girl.

"I lost my bracelet!" she replied. "It must have fallen off on the way here."

"Well let's go back and look for it." Lucy suggested.

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that, Lucy-san." Wendy quickly responded. "You wait right here. I'll go find it." Wendy quickly ran off after that not leaving any time for Lucy could protest.

Lucy sighed as she leaned against a tree but decided to listen to Wendy and just wait for her to come back.

"Okay, Romeo, where is this 'really cool' thing you wanted to show me?" Natsu asked. They had already been searching around the park for twenty minutes but hadn't found any trace of whatever it was that Romeo had found.

I know it was around here somewhere." Romeo responded. "Natsu-nii, why don't you look over there by that big tree?" he suggested. "I'll check behind these bushes over here."

"Alright." Natsu agreed, walking towards the tree. As Natsu approached the tree he smelled a familiar sweet scent. Curious he looked around to the other side of the tree and saw Lucy standing there. "Lucy!" he exclaimed as he tackled her in a big hug.

"Kyaa!" Lucy screeched, surprised by the sudden embrace. "Natsu?" she said, suddenly realizing who it was. "You startled me!"

"Sorry, Luce." Natsu said as he scratched the back of his head. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still at the guild."

"Wendy asked if I wanted to go on a walk with her and then she suggested we come to the park." Lucy explained.

"That's strange." Natsu replied. "Romeo said he had something to show me but we haven't found anything."

"You know, Natsu," Lucy said with a thoughtful look on her face. "I think this was a setup."

"I think you're right, Luce." Natsu said. "Especially since I can smell Romeo and Wendy hiding in those bushes over there." Natsu indicated the direction with a slight movement of his head.

"Well," Lucy started with a smile at Natsu. "Since those two put in all this effort, what do you say we give them a little something to take back to the guild?"

"Okay." Natsu replied as he smiled as well. He put his arm around Lucy's shoulders and she leaned her head against his. "Let's go home, Luce."

Behind the bush Romeo and Wendy high fived each other; happy that they had been able to get even a small reaction out of the two dense mages.

"Come on, Wendy, we've got to tell Mira-nee and everyone else what happened!" Romeo exclaimed once Natsu and Lucy had left.

"Okay, Romeo-kun." Wendy replied just as excited as him as they ran off to tell the guild together.

The walk to Lucy's apartment was a quiet one, Natsu and Lucy just content to be near each other. Soon enough they reached her apartment and Lucy had to leave Natsu's side to unlock her apartment door. Once she did she walked into her apartment followed by Natsu who closed the door behind him. Before Lucy could take another step into her apartment she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and warm lips pressed against her neck.

"So, Luce," Natsu said his breath flowing across her neck. "Do you think it's about time to tell everyone at the guild that we've been dating for three months already?"

"Hmmm." Lucy sighed as she leaned back into Natsu's chest. "I suppose so. But," she added turning around in his arms to face him. "Let's do that tomorrow."

Lucy cupped Natsu's face in her hands before leaning forward and kissing him.

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**This was originally going to be my last chapter, but I have decided that I will write a fourth epilogue chapter for this story. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I've finally got my final chapter up. I hope you guys enjoy!**

**I was considering doing a prequel story telling how Natsu and Lucy first got together but I wasn't sure if I should. Leave a review and let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.**

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Chapter Four

Lucy woke up the next morning with Natsu's arm wrapped around her waist and a blue bundle of fur curled up asleep on the pillow next to her. Lucy twisted around in Natsu's arms until she was facing him.

_'He's cute when he's asleep.' _Lucy thought as she looked at Natsu's calm sleeping face.

"Mmm." Natsu moaned in his sleep.

Lucy laughed quietly then leaned forward and softly kissed Natsu causing him to shift in his sleep.

"Morning, Luce." Natsu said sleepily as he opened his eyes looking at Lucy.

"Good morning yourself, Natsu." Lucy replied with a smile.

"Is it time to go to the guild?" Natsu asked, half asleep already.

"Yes. If we don't go now we'll have Gray and Erza barging in thinking something's wrong." Lucy replied.

Natsu sighed but released his grip on Lucy and stood up, stretching as he did.

"I'm going to take a shower, Natsu." Lucy said getting out of bed. "You might want to wake Happy." She motioned to the blue furred Exceed who was still fast asleep on the pillow before she grabbed her clothes and walked into the bathroom.

"Happy." Natsu called to the Exceed. "Happy, wake up." Natsu poked the sleeping Exceed until Happy opened sleepy to look up at his Dragon Slayer partner.

"Natsu?" Happy mumbled as he woke up.

"It's time to get up, Happy." Natsu said. "Luce is taking a shower and then we're gonna head over to the guild."

"Aye! I want an extra big fish today!" Happy exclaimed, perking up immediately. "It was really hard keeping your secret hidden yesterday. Everyone kept asking me if there was any progress in you and Lucy's relationship."

"Don't worry, Happy." Lucy said as she came out of the bathroom. "That's the last time you'll have to keep it hidden. We're going to tell the guild today."

"Really?" Both Natsu and Lucy nodded. "I can't wait to see everyone's reactions!"

"Well, we'd better get going." Lucy announced. "Come on Natsu. Happy."

Natsu fell into step beside Lucy taking her hand in his as they walked out the door.

"Aye sir!" Happy replied as he flew after the couple.

Soon Natsu reached their guild, pushed the front doors open and entered their loud and rumbustious guild.

"Hello Lucy and Natsu." Mira greeted them cheerfully from behind the bar counter. She then noticed that the two of them were holding hands. "Oh my."

"Everyone, I have an announcement!" Natsu called out to the guild. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the two mages. "Lucy and I are dating." He stated, flashing his trademark grin at the guild.

"Congratulations!"

"This is Man!"

"Finally!"

"Good going, Salamander."

"Yay, Lu-chan!"

"You've finally grown up, Natsu!"

"It's about time, Flame Breath." A shirtless Gray said as he approached the couple with Juvia by his side, his arm around her shoulders.

"You're one to talk, Popsicle!" Natsu exclaimed. "I beat you by three months!"

At Natsu's statement everyone in the guild fell silent for a few moments before a big exclamation.

"WHAT!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"You let me talk to you yesterday about you and Lucy and you've been dating for three months already!" Gray started. "You made me seem like an idiot!" He lunged at Natsu only to be held back by Juvia wrapping her arms around his bare chest.

"You don't need my help to do that!" Natsu responded as he lunged toward Gray as well only held back by Lucy.

"Gray-sama, Juvia thinks you need to calm down!" Juvia said as she restrained him. "Congratulations Lucy and Natsu!"

"Thank you Juvia. Congratulations to you and Gray, too." Lucy replied as she restrained Natsu as well.

Juvia's face flushed red but she didn't release her grip on Gray who was still trying to get at Natsu.

Just then there was a flash of golden light beside Lucy and when it cleared Loke was standing there.

"Now, now everyone I think you should all calm down." Loke said, pushing his glasses up on his face.

"Loke, you knew!" Macao and Wakaba exclaimed.

"Of course I knew." Loke said. "I am Lucy's spirit after all."

"Why didn't you tell us then?" Mira asked. "We even included you in our plans to get them together."

"Lucy asked me not to tell." Loke explained. "And I, being the faithful spirit and friend that I am, obliged to Lucy's request.

"Happy." Mira said from behind the Exceed. For some reason Happy didn't know, the tone of the usually cheerful barmaid made him shiver and his fur stand on end as he turned to face her. "Did you know about this?" she asked as a dark aura permeated the air around her.

"M-maybe." Happy squeaked before flying over behind Natsu and Lucy. "Natsu! Lucy! Mira's scary." He cried.

"Mira, are you okay?" Lucy asked tentatively.

"All my plans," Mira said not seeming to hear Lucy. "They were for nothing!" She exclaimed before bursting into tears.

"Mira-nee!" Lisanna exclaimed, shocked at her elder sister's outburst. "Please calm down, Mira-nee." She grabbed her sister's arm and attempted to pull her sister away from the couple. "Elf-nii-chan, help!"

Elfman approached his sister's and lifted Mira up into his arms with ease and carried her away.

"I'm really happy for you two." Lisanna said to the couple before following her older siblings.

"Lu-chan!" Levy ran up to her friend with tears running down her face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry Levy-chan." Lucy replied as she hugged her blue haired friend. "I fully intended to tell everyone right after we got together, but before I could say anything, Mira said she thought Natsu really liked me so I thought it would be fun to act like we didn't understand what you guys were hinting at. Natsu agreed with me. And it did lead to Gray and Juvia getting together, which is good."

Suddenly Lucy was tackled in a hug by a blue haired Dragon Slayer. "Congratulations, Lucy-san!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Thank you, Wendy." Lucy replied as she returned the young girl's hug.

"You two were dating for three months without telling anyone." Erza's voice rang out from the back of the guild.

Everyone surrounding Natsu and Lucy immediately cleared a path for the Requip mage as she walked towards the couple. Her head was down and her bangs shielded her eyes from view. Lucy squeaked and hid behind Natsu as Erza approached them.

"I- I'm so happy for you!" Erza exclaimed with tears in her eyes. She pulled them to her in a hug.

"Ouch!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hard!" Natsu added.

"Now that that's all settled," The Master said standing on the bar counter. "I believe it's time to celebrate the two new couples we have in the guild."

"Yeah!" the whole guild agreed as one and began to party.

"Hey Natsu!" Macao called out across the guild from his seat with Wakaba and Cana. "Give your new girlfriend a kiss."

Natsu pulled Lucy close to him before leaning over and giving her a passionate kiss. The guild hollered and cheered as they watched the happy couple.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, this will be the last chapter of this story as I am going to move on to my next Fairy Tail story. This chapter will tell in detail how Natsu and Lucy got together.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.**

* * *

Chapter Five

After some of the excitement in the guild died down the girls pulled Lucy aside and asked her the question every one wanted to know.

"So Lu-chan," Levy said excitedly. "How did you and Natsu realize your feelings?"

"Well," Lucy started as the girls leaned in closer eager to hear her story. "It happened during the mission that Natsu and I took on alone."

***_Flashback_

"Aahh." Lucy sighed as she sat down at the bar. She laid her head down on her arms on top of the counter.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Mira asked as she was cleaning glasses.

"My rent is due soon and I barely have even half the amount due." Lucy replied.

"Well why don't you ask Natsu to go on a mission with you?" Mira suggested.

"I would but he always ends up destroying something and we don't get the reward then." Lucy explained. "I'd ask Erza or Gray but they both went on solo missions. Levy left with Gajeel and Shadow Gear this morning too. Ah! What about Wendy?" Lucy asked.

"She left earlier with Carla, Happy, and Romeo." Mira explained.

"Ehh? Wendy and Romeo went on a mission together?" Lucy asked surprised that the young girl would go on a mission with the young Fire Mage.

"Don't they look adorable together? They would make a cute couple!" Mira exclaimed going into her matchmaker mode. "Speaking of cute couples I think you and Na-"

"I'm going to ask Natsu to do a mission then." Lucy said cutting Mira's words off. She needed to get away from her before she tried to pair her up too. "Where is he anyway?" Lucy asked scanning the guild.

"Luce!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly appearing behind her. He slung an arm around her shoulders as he handed her a piece of paper. "I found the perfect job for us! It shouldn't be too hard and the pay is good. Your rent is coming up soon, right?"

Lucy quickly scanned the paper as Natsu talked. He was right it was a relatively easy job of stopping some bandits who were raiding a village and it paid enough that she would be able to pay her rent and still have some left over. The town would take half a day to reach by train so they would have to leave immediately to arrive in time.

"It does seem pretty easy." Lucy replied. "Wait, how did you know my rent was due?" she asked.

"I could tell by the way you've been acting, Luce." Natsu replied. "You didn't get as upset this morning when you found me in your bed. It was like you were distracted, so I figured that this must mean that your rent was the problem. So you wanna go?" He smiled at Lucy as he said that.

"Thank you, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed as she gave Natsu a hug. She was surprised he would even think about her rent like that.

"You're a weirdo, Luce." Natsu complained.

Mira watching the two from behind the bar smiled with amusement as she saw a slight blush on Natsu's face.

"Mira we're going on this job." Lucy said turning to face the barmaid and showed her the paper.

"Okay." Mira replied writing it down on the log book. "That's at least an overnight trip, Lucy. Maybe something will happen between you and Natsu." Mira said with a gleam in her eyes.

"It's not like that!" Lucy exclaimed before she turned back to Natsu. "I'm going home to pack. I'll meet you at the train station in twenty minutes."

"Not the train!" Natsu exclaimed his face turning green just from the thought. "We'll walk."

"There's no way I'm walking, Natsu! It will take too long. The train is the quickest way to get there." Lucy said as she walked out the door.

"But I hate trains!" Natsu exclaimed as he followed her.

"Oh my." Mira said to herself. "Maybe this will move their relationship forward."

Twenty minutes later Natsu was standing in front of the train station as he waited for Lucy.

"Natsu!" Lucy called as she ran up to him with her suitcase in hand.

Natsu raised a hand to wave as a smile unknowingly spread across his face. "Luce!"

"Sorry. Did you wait long?" she asked as she reached him.

Natsu shook his head. "Nope." he said.

Just then the bell signaling that the train would be leaving soon rang.

"Come on, Luce! We're going to miss the train." Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her forward.

"Natsu! Hold on!" Lucy exclaimed as she tried to regain her balance.

Before Lucy knew it she found herself on the train. Once the train started moving Natsu's motion sickness set in and somehow is head ended up lying on Lucy's lap. Lucy made a noise of surprise but didn't have the heart to push him off as she looked at his face. Absentmindedly she began to stroke Natsu's head, which she remembered was something her mother used to do.

"Mmm. That feels nice." Natsu mumbled.

Suddenly Lucy realized what she was doing and quickly removed her hand.

"No. Keep doing that." Natsu said. "It was helping."

Lucy smiled at that before she began to stroke Natsu's head again. "My mother used to do this when I got sick as a child." Lucy said softly.

"She knew what she was doing." Natsu replied as he closed his eyes.

A few hours later they arrived at their destination. By the time they got there it was already early evening.

"Natsu, wake up." Lucy gently shook the sleeping Dragon Slayer.

Natsu slowly opened his eyes still looking a bit sick before he realized the train wasn't moving anymore.

"It stopped!" Natsu yelled jumping to his feet quickly.

"That was fast!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I'm alive again! Come on, Luce. Let's go!" He grabbed Lucy's hand once more and proceeded to drag her off the train.

"Natsu, stop dragging me everywhere!" Lucy protested. "I can walk on my own!"

"You're too slow, Luce." Natsu replied.

"That's it!" Lucy exclaimed pulling her hand free from Natsu's grip. "On the train ride back you can sit in your own seat. I won't stroke your head on the train."

"But, Lucy," Natsu whined. "That really helped me!"

"Humph!" Lucy huffed and walked past him. "Maybe next time you'll think before you insult me."

"I'm sorry! It was just a joke!"

"If you can complete this mission without any major destruction, I'll reconsider."

"Alright! I'll do it, Luce!" Natsu slung his arm around Lucy's shoulders as she pulled the request paper out.

"It says here that the mayor requested this mission." Lucy said reading the paper. "That's go check in with him first before it gets any later. His house is that way." Lucy pointed towards a street on the right before she felt herself being dragged by Natsu once again.

"Natsu! What did I just say about dragging me?"

"It's more fun this way, Luce!" Natsu replied as he smiled at her over his shoulder.

"Honestly." Lucy sighed as she tried to keep pace with the Flame Dragon Slayer.

Natsu knocked on the door of a large mansion as Lucy huffed behind him trying to regain her breath after running after Natsu.

"May I help you?" a butler asked as he opened the door.

"We're mages from Fairy Tail." Lucy explained. "We accepted the job request about the bandits."

"Yes I believe the mayor is expecting you. Please come in." the butler as he stepped aside for them to enter. "Wait here." He said as he led the two mages to a formal sitting room. "I will inform the master of your arrival."

Natsu and Lucy sat down on the couch as they waited for the mayor to arrive.

"Hello Mages." A tall man with gray hair said as he walked into the room. "My name's Sal. I'm the mayor of this town."

"I'm Lucy. And this is Natsu." Lucy introduced them. "Could you tell us about the bandits?"

"Of course." Mayor Sal replied. "They have been raiding our city for a couple of months now, which is really impacting our trading commerce. They usually attack near dark."

"That means they should be coming soon." Lucy said as she noted the sky outside getting darker.

"We'll go patrol the town on the lookout for the bandits, Mayor." Natsu said standing up. "Come on, Luce."

"Thank you." Lucy said to the mayor before following Natsu out.

After Natsu and Lucy left the mayor's house they checked into a nearby hotel and left their luggage in their room before heading out into the town to patrol.

"It got colder out here now that the sun went down." Lucy said rubbing her arms to get them warm. She was beginning to regret not grabbing a jacket before they left the hotel.

Natsu put his arm around Lucy pulling her closer to his body warming her with his unnaturally warm body temperature. "Is that better?" He asked.

Lucy blushed at the contact but nodded her head in response. Just then loud yells broke into the quiet night air. Natsu changed his hold onto Lucy's hand as he pulled her along with him to the source of the commotion.

"We'll be taking this now." A rough voice said.

"Stop, that's my shipment." Another voice called.

"Like we really care." The first voice replied followed by loud laughs from his companions.

When Natsu and Lucy got to the scene they saw a guy with messy dark brown hair standing on top of a cart filled with goods looking down on a man lying on the ground who was obviously a merchant. The thief on the cart conjured a fireball in his hand and fired it at the defenseless merchant. Natsu leaped out of the alley way that he and Lucy were in and in front of the merchant, inhaling the fireball before it could do any damage.

"Thanks for the meal." Natsu said as he faced the opponent fire mage.

"What are you!" the mage thief exclaimed.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu exclaimed as his fists lit on fire and leaped toward the man, punching him squarely in the face.

"Get him!" the other's exclaimed as they started towards Natsu.

"Not so fast!" Lucy exclaimed as she leaped out of the alley as well a golden key already in hand. "Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" A golden light emanated from the key before clearing to reveal a humanoid bull with a giant axe.

"Mooooooh! I will protect Lucy-san's wonderful body!" Taurus exclaimed before swinging his axe at the group of thieves.

"Get the girl!" one of the robbers exclaimed. Two of them leaped towards Lucy thinking she'd be an easy target.

"I'm not completely defenseless!" Lucy exclaimed as she pulled out her whip and lashed it at the two thieves.

"How dare you threaten Lucy-san and her body!" Taurus yelled as he knocked out several more thieves.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu yelled as he knocked out the last of the thieves.

"Thank you, Taurus." Lucy said holding out his key. "You can go back now."

"Lucy-san!" Taurus exclaimed with hearts in his eyes. "You really have the best-"

"Force gate closure!" Lucy said, cutting off Taurus' perverted comment.

"Thank you so much!" the merchant exclaimed as Natsu helped him up.

Just then one of the thief's behind Natsu stirred and pulled out a small communications lacrima.

"I've got to warn the Boss about these mages." He mumbled.

Natsu, having heard the man with his advanced hearing, spun around to face him with fire in his eyes, but before he could do anything a whip lashed out from the side, knocking the lacrima out of the thief's hand.

"Don't even think about it!" Lucy exclaimed holding her whip.

"Good one, Luce!" Natsu said giving her a thumbs' up. Lucy grinned back in response before Natsu strode up to the thief and grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Now you're gonna tell us where your base is located." He growled.

"And why would I do that!" the thief shot back.

Natsu smirked before lighting one fist on fire. The thief's eyes widened in horror and he immediately broke down. "It's in the forest by that huge tree!" he exclaimed pointing at a tree that stood above the others. Natsu extinguished his flame and dropped the weakened thief back on the ground before turning to face Lucy.

"Let's go, Luce." He said.

"Right." Lucy nodded in agreement.

Natsu and Lucy headed into the forest and quickly reached the thieves base.

"Do you have a plan, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Burst in and knock them senseless!" He exclaimed his fists engulfed in flame.

"You never think things out do you, Natsu?" Lucy remarked as she sweat dropped. "But then again, I guess there's no other way to approach this situation." Lucy pulled out one of her golden keys.

Natsu turned to stare at Lucy surprised at her actually agreeing with his full frontal attack for the first time, before grinning wolfishly at her. "Let's go."

"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu exclaimed as he kicked in the door and launched himself into a surprised group of thieves.

"Open the Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!" Lucy called coming in behind Natsu and summoning the archer spirit.

"Moshi Moshi!" Sagittarius said before firing his arrows at the bandits and pinning them to the wall.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu exclaimed taking out bandits left and right. "Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

"Well hello there, girlie." A voice said behind Lucy. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here?"

Lucy spun around to face the unknown thief pulling her whip out. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Suddenly the man disappeared only to reappear behind Lucy grabbing both of her wrists and holding them behind her back. "I'm Drake. The leader of the bandits he whispered into Lucy's ear. "And I think you'd make quite a nice addition to my group."

"Like I'd join you!" Lucy exclaimed as she tried to free herself from his grip.

"Pity." Drake said. "You really are a pretty girl." He said before throwing Lucy against the wall.

"Aahh!" Lucy cried out as she collided with the wall and fell to the ground.

"Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed. He knocked the last bandit away from him with ease before leaping in between Lucy and the bandit leader. "How dare you hurt my Lucy!" He yelled furious at Drake.

_'__Did Natsu just say _my_ Lucy?'_ Lucy thought as she stared at Natsu in shock.

"Touchy, are you?" Drake mocked.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The man teleported out of the way of the attack and reappeared behind Natsu kicking him in the back and sending him to the floor.

Natsu growled as he pushed himself up from the floor. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu called using the flames to rocket off the floor and towards his opponent.

Drake just teleported out of the way again and appeared beside Natsu punching him in the stomach. "Certainly the great Salamander of Fairy Tail can do better than this. I haven't even broken a sweat yet."

Natsu punched the floor in anger creating a hole where his fist hit. Suddenly he just had an idea and he smirked as he stood up. "Dragon Slayers Secret Art, Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"

Once again Drake teleported intending to avoid the attack and appear behind Natsu but the attack circled around Natsu and when Drake reappeared behind Natsu he was caught up in the attack.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Drake exclaimed as the flames surrounded him and he fell to the floor defeated.

"Luce, are you okay?" Natsu asked leaning down next to her.

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you, Natsu." Lucy said. She started to stand up before a sharp pain shot through her ankle. "Aahh!" she cried out as she started to fall only to find herself in Natsu's arms.

"What's wrong, Luce?" Natsu asked concern in his eyes.

"I think I sprained my ankle." Lucy explained.

"Let's get you back to the hotel." Natsu said as he picked Lucy up bridal style.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned as she blushed.

Natsu didn't answer as he quickly carried Lucy out of the forest and back to their hotel room. He pulled out the first aid kit Lucy had brought with her and carefully wrapped her ankle up.

"I'm sorry, Luce." Natsu whispered with his head down.

"For what, Natsu?" Lucy asked confused.

"I'm supposed to protect you but I let you get hurt. If I had finished those guys off sooner I could stopped that guy from hurting you."

"It wasn't your fault, Natsu." Lucy pulled Natsu's head up to make him look at her.

"I feel like it is." Natsu replied. "I don't like when you get hurt. What if it had been a more serious attack? I couldn't stand it if I lost you, Luce. Lately I've been feeling different around you, Lucy; like I couldn't go on with my life if you weren't with me."

"Natsu." Lucy whispered. _'Does even know what he's saying?'_ She thought.

"Do you know what this feeling is, Lucy?" Natsu asked looking into Lucy's eyes. Lucy nodded in response to his question and Natsu's eyes lit up. "Could you tell me what it is, Luce?"

"I could," Lucy whispered. "But it might be easier to show you."

Lucy cupped Natsu's face in her hands before she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to Natsu's. Natsu sat still in surprise for a moment before finally realizing what his 'strange' feeling had been and wrapped his arms around Lucy's waist pulling her deeper into the kiss. They briefly pulled away for air before Natsu pulled Lucy into another kiss.

"Lucy." Natsu breathed.

"Do you understand now, Natsu?" Lucy asked softly. Natsu nodded without saying anything. He then gently pushed Lucy down on the bed before lying down next to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"N-Natsu? What are you doing?" Lucy stuttered attempting to free herself from his hold.

"I love you, Luce." Natsu whispered as he held her to him.

Lucy stilled at Natsu's confession before twisting around to face him. "I love you too, Natsu." She replied giving him another soft kiss before they both drifted off to sleep.

***_End Flashback_

"Aawwwww." The girls cooed at the end of Lucy's story.

"That's so sweet!" Mira exclaimed having recovered from her earlier depression.

"Haa! Flame Brain, you didn't even know what you were feeling towards Lucy!" Gray exclaimed having heard the end of Lucy's story.

"You wanna say that again, Popsicle?" Natsu challenged.

"What? That you're too stupid to even know your own feelings!" Gray yelled.

"You've done it now, Stripper!" Natsu yelled and jumped towards Gray starting another one of their infamous fights.

Lucy laughed as she watched Natsu and Gray go at it again. After all it was one of the reasons she fell in love with the Dragon Slayer in the first place.


End file.
